Organic food market in India set for incessant growth

Increasing retail and online presence of organic food stores, growing demand from international market and rising health consciousness are anticipated to spur the demand for organic foods in India

According to a recently published report by TechSci Research ‘India Organic Food Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2017’, the organic food market in India is expected to grow at the CAGR of around 19% during 2012-17. The growth in the market is also being contributed by the foray of several retail giants and online retailers in the Indian organic food market. Over the last few years, several players have started to offer organic food products through online channel. Some of the major online organic food retailers include: Farm2Kitchen, Big Basket, Best Organic etc.

Organic foods are produced through systematic farming methods that do not involve any usage of pesticides and harmful chemicals for production. India has around 4.2 Million hectares of land which is certified for organic farming. The emergence of organic farming is also creating a wide array of job opportunities. Increasing awareness towards nutritious and healthy food and changing lifestyle are surging the demand for organic food, particularly across the metro cities. Majority of the demand for organic food is being contributed by cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Pune.

The market is restrained by some factors such as a price conscious consumer base, extensive land available for farming which is not certified for organic farming etc. The certification for land to be considered fit for organic farming requires extensive documentation and is also an expensive and time consuming process.

The demand for organic food products is increasing in U.S., Europe and Japan. The health concerns in these countries are rising extensively; however, as a result of high cost of labor and less fertility of land, these countries rely on developing countries like India to meet their requirements for organic foods.

“The availability of different types of organic products, less dependency on chemical fertilizers, increasing government initiatives for promoting organic farming and increasing investments by corporate giants are likely to push the market for organic foods in India,” said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research a research based global management consulting firm.”